EWG Elevate Inc. Purchases New Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

EWG Elevate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,114 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $158,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 1,519.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,129,341 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,054,376,000 after purchasing an additional 7,627,286 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.9% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 96,570,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,525,224,000 after buying an additional 2,712,886 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,176,496 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,883,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,388 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 7.6% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,919,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,908,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 34.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,258,231 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $783,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340,328 shares in the last quarter. 31.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.81, for a total value of $633,543.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 255,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,935,093.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.81, for a total value of $633,543.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 255,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,935,093.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 157,406 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.00, for a total transaction of $21,722,028.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 260,926,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,007,918,134. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,830,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,378,798,478. Company insiders own 47.06% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of WMT traded up $1.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $139.40. 14,360,402 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,067,045. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.04. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.27 and a 52 week high of $160.77. The company has a market cap of $375.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $164.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.67 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 20.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 52.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $155.00 price objective on Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Walmart in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $159.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Walmart from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $164.00 target price on Walmart in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.44.

Walmart Company Profile

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Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.